The Halloween promotion from Nintendo puts forth an assurance of “No Tricks, All Treats,” yet instead of enjoyment, customers started throwing unbridled fits over their pricing policies and missed classics. A happy announcement from Nintendo America with ghost and pumpkin emojis to “enter if you dare” shortly turned into a haunted house full of misgivings and wailings on social media.
So, what went wrong with what was supposed to be a simple seasonal sale? Well, it looks like whenever Nintendo says no tricks, all many of their players are viewing are just tricks—and not even the fun kind for Halloween.
The backlash began the moment the tweet went onto the timeline. One of the first calling out Nintendo was MKUltraLabel, who posted a screenshot of the sale prices with the caption “What’s going on with your prices here? 🧐” Setting the tone for many more similar grumbles toward what players see as the unwillingness on Nintendo’s part to actually offer discounts, especially on the older titles.
While the pricing nightmare of the Halloween promotion began, many users continued to complain about the absence of classic games that would be well-suited for the spooky season but are glaringly missing from the current platforms. User bstatmeister begged, “Release Eternal Darkness for GameCube NSO! (And original Luigi’s Mansion, please),” while David H Brown did so even more emphatically: “No Luigi’s Mansion. No Eternal Darkness. No Battletanx. NO TRICKS. NO TREATS AT ALL UNTIL YOU GIVE THIS OFFER A CHANCE!”
The Luigi’s Mansion requests became a recurring theme in the replies, as user GloppenBoopin02 expressed frustration about wanting to reload the GameCube classic on Switch for the Halloween season, stating that they “had been chomping at the bit” since they first saw it in the GameCube service trailer. The discussion about the missing titles even sparked debates on emulation, with some users endorsing it as an alternative while others came in defense of Nintendo’s approach.
Matt Linton took this to the next level, accusing Nintendo of a “predatory business model” and calling the company “moneygrubbers” that “don’t deserve” consumer dollars. He hit quite hard at the price gouging, mentioning “$39 games” being sold for “$79” in a thinly veiled diss of Nintendo’s infamous practice of refusing to lower prices on first-party titles for years after their release.
User jazc_007 summarized quite well the disdain against Nintendo’s own tagline: “You got it wrong; ‘All tricks, no treats.’ That describes your predatory business model way better.” This was followed by hashtags #DoBetterNintendo and #StopTheGreed propagating through the replies, marking this as more than just disappointment at one sale, but a general one against Nintendo’s practices.
Meanwhile, Demyx chimed in with another terror tale- that of “toxic Nintendo fans harassing people that share their opinion”-“nothing more scary” than any Halloween-themed content. This comment highlighted how community dynamics around Nintendo franchise renditions have become more hostile in recent years.
Is there a better or more significant time for this backlash? Nintendo clearly intended to have a light seasonal engagement opportunity through their Halloween tweet. Instead, this tweet has opened the door to what looks like years of suppressed frustration from their player base. The report pours forth pricing complaints; demands for certain classic games; and damning accounts of business practices reflecting a certain agony shared by many that feel Nintendo isn’t listening.
Even some of the light-hued ones were a bite below the surface. User anyasormichael commented “I am really shaking at this point!” and “This is really scary indeed!” but the context clearly was sarcastic about the unimpressive sale rather than genuine excitement about the Halloween content.
The discussion even drifted toward speculation concerning the rumored Switch successor, with Jadenfire lamenting that there would be “nothing fun” at least until 2026 for “Switch 2” and expressed disappointment about missed features in current games like Animal Crossing and Minecraft.
What makes the entire ordeal interesting in particular is that it forms topical contrast to Nintendo’s very strong ties with its community. A lot of us are aware of how they speak not only as a company making family-friendly content while pushing for innovative gaming experiences but also as a company whose views are becoming harder and harder for their players to tolerate. That a single wail against one promotional tweet would bloom into a multi-faceted complaint strongly hints at how long these grievances have been building.
Come Halloween, Nintendo treats don’t even seem to taste sweet for many players. The big question, then, is whether the company can readjust to appease the grievances without compromising the business for itself. Until this anger precipitates some form of real change, one thing remains certain: the Halloween promotion has actually scared off players in a way the company hadn’t foreseen.
The whole affair really does make you wonder whether the Nintendo social media team expected this level of pushback at all. I mean, surely they see these comments every day, yes? But to see them all gathered under one single festive Halloween tweet really underscores how upset some players have become. It isn’t about one sale or missing game anymore; it’s about an ongoing pattern that has been developing for quite some time.
And with the holidays fast approaching, Nintendo might be wanting to address: is this sustainable? Or do they need to rethink how they treat the very ones who keep buying their games? At the end of the day, loyal customers are the treat any company should cherish not just during Halloween but all year round.
